Touched
by Rebelle Artist
Summary: My name is Kim Crawford and I have a secret: I'm the reason why Grace's father died. I'm cursed. Whenever I touch someone they die within an hour. Up until now, avoiding skin to skin contact has been easy. At least until Jack Brewer-a hot, dark haired transfer student-decided to start stalking me. He's arrogant, observant, and eerily secretive but worst of all: he knows my secret


**Chapter 1**

I stood stone still as the cold December winds blew back my dark brown hair back. I stared at the pile of ashes at my feet. Thick, black smoke curled up towards the sky. The words '_cursed' _kept repeating itself in my brain. I stared at my hands that were forever changed. I could never hug my baby sister again or climb the old oak tree in the park. On cold, stormy nights I would never be able to bury my face in the fur of Halo, my Golden Retriever. All because I'd angered a witch. It was like my own personal version of Beauty and the Beast. The woman had been begging for money. My family wasn't poor but we weren't rich either. My father was in debt to a lot of drug dealers. When he was shot and killed outside of our house two years ago, my mom packed up and moved us all to her hometown. Hot and humid Seaford, California.

You'd think that wouldn't be a problem, right? I mean there's sunshiney beaches, tourist attractions, and dudes walking around shirtless like it's normal. Well, that's pretty hard for someone who grew up in rainy, clouded over Salem, Oregon. I'd never been to a beach, the sun rarely came out, and the only guy I'd ever seen shirtless was my drunk-ass father and believe me, once was more than enough. I stood in the park, alone, as the oranges and pinks in the sky turned to shades of dark blue and the barking dogs gave way to chirping crickets. The smoke had cleared but the air still had a burnt, bitter taste. I would never forget it. A sucking noise emanated from the ground. The once charred earth was now being covered by rapidly growing grass. In a matter of seconds, all that was left was a slightly browning patch of grass, like the burn was never there.

I gasped and stumbled back, catching myself on a tree. This had to be joke. Magic didn't exist. I wasn't cursed. Suddenly, my hand trembled and turned a vibrant red, like it had been repeatedly hit with a switch. I watched in horror as the tree I was leaning on bent and twisted. The light brown bark faded to chocolate brown, then to sickening black. The leaves shriveled and dried as the branches began to crack into pieces. The bark peeled off slowly, dropping to the ground seconds before disintegrating into the earth. My eyes widened as the rest of the tree resumed to kill itself. Finally, all that was left was a rotting tree stump. I looked back down at my hands and noticed they had lost their reddish tint.

I took a careful step back, cautious not to touch anything again. The huge tree that had been there for years was diminished in a matter of seconds. I couldn't believe that psychotic girl was telling the truth. She couldn't have been a real witch. There was no such thing. In all honesty, I thought I was hallucinating. That all this was some kind of sick, twisted nightmare and in a few minutes I would wake up to Halo licking my face. Then I would go to the park and see the oak tree standing proudly in the middle, instead of a rotting tree stump. When I opened my eyes, all I saw was the same decaying tree stump.

Suddenly, I felt a sharp pain inside my stomach. It felt like my stomach was trying to eat itself. My breathing went ragged as my heart speed up. It felt like something was strangling it, something cold. My skin started burning and I clawed at my arms and chest, trying to ease the pain. White lights flashed before my eyes as I felt the wind pick up. The pain in my heart was getting tighter and I felt my lungs start to close up. A flash of lightning split the sky as it turned dark gray.

I stumbled around trying to find something, anything, to anchor myself down. I collapsed on the bank of the river that ran through the park. I stared down at my reflection in the water. My brunette hair flew around my face and I screamed as my once brown hair went a striking golden blonde and my skin paled. I leaned closer and stared into the water. I saw a face in the water. It stared back at me with empty black eyes and grinned sadistically. I gasped before it disappeared. Terrified, I stared as my once brown eyes turned stone gray. Pain shot through me as the clenching in my heart stopped and my breath returned to normal. The wind started to die down. With shaking hands, I looked at my reflection. Gray eyes blinked back at me, no emotion found even though I was utterly terrified. I didn't need anymore convincing. The stone gray in my eyes and bright blonde of my hair said it all. I was forever changed. Forever different. I was cursed.


End file.
